Damn plot bunnies...They kept attacking me so I finally gave in, jeez...
I hope this story will get a good response!
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Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake tomorrow
From this nightmare?
-Will I, RENT
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Breaking Through
Chapter One
The Encounter
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"Murderer!"
"Monster!"
"DEMON!"
A five year old Naruto jerked awake, covered in cold sweat and gasping for breath. Trembling, he sat up as his gaze wandered over his sorry excuse for an apartment before staring at his arms. Cruel scars adorned his skin, so much that you could hardly tell which was untounched, even with his unnatural healing abilities. Whimpering softly, he closed his eyes and refused to cry, falling asleep in a fetal position.
Like any other night.
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Blue eyes settled on his clothes and his sighed. He was forced to wear this way-too-bright orange vest and shorts that A, no sane person would want and B, were crumpled, dirtied and neglected. Just like the boy who wore them.
Naruto's eyes were down, avoiding looking at the loathful glares of the adults. Especially when parents ushered their children away and threw dirty looks over their shoulders. He was used to it but it did not ease the pain inside.
The blond bought several bags of instant ramen with the money the Hokage gave him each week. Taking a short cut through an alley, the boy bumped into a drunk and fell. Hastily, Naruto apologized but it was ignored.
"Yer demon prat! Gust ddiiee!"
The man punched Naruto in the stomach, causing the blond the choke and suck air greedily as he collapsed. His ramen fell and the drunk kicked them away. His drunk eyes were burning with hatred as he proceeded to beat the boy. Soon, a small crowd gathered and jeered at Naruto.
"Die you monster!"
"You murderer!"
"Demon scum!"
Naruto bit back a current of sobs and waited out the beating. He was ready to pass out when the blows stopped and the crowd disperesed, satisfied that he was in pain. Rising shakily, he gathered his fallen items and made his way back to his apartment without futher beatings, wounds already healed. But the glares still attacked, wounding his young soul even more.
The blond walked around the holes on the floor and notes and rocks to put away the ramen cups. He sank into his bed after going through six ramen cups and sighed. Before he let sleep take him and nightmares ravage him, he thought sadly;
Just like any other day.
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Naruto sighed as he sat on his bed. He hated it. He hated the fact that those villagers would only pay attention to him if they had a chance to beat him up. A year ago they would glare at him and he grew used to it. But now, they chose to ignore his existance and with yelling and glares, he knew they noticed him. Tears burned his eyes, refusing to break free. Why? It hurt even more than anything. No, when they told the kids to keep away from him was worse.
His hands tightened into fists as nails caused his palms to bleed and clenched his jaw untill his lips was a firm frown. He decided that attention was better than being ignored. Staring at his blood, the six year old vowed in a hushed tone.
"I will be acknowledged by them, I swear! Even if...even if I must be a-a. Even if I must be a fool!"
He smiled his last genuine smile for the four years to come.
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A whole class of seven year olds were howling with laughter at the expence of Naruto's 'mistake'. During kunai practice, when he threw his ten kunai, three actually went behind him when he sloppily threw them.
"HAHAHA! WHAT AN IDIOT!"
"THAT-HAHA- WAS JUST-HAHA-RICH!"
"Hehehe, I meant to do that. Really!"
The blond had a painfully large smile and his eyes squinted shut in 'happiness.' But in doing so, no one could notice his mouth threatening to fall in a frown or see his blue eyes flow with hurt and sadness. The laughter died done gradually, the occassional snicker heard as the continued their practicing as Naruto retrieved his scattered kunai.
If one had taken care to watch the boy, they would've seen a flash of satisfaction flicker momentarily in his eyes as he reached for the three kunai.
Pinned down were three small leaves that were formerly flying with the breeze.
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A ten year old Naruto was walking down the street. He had stayed at Ichiraku's longer than he intended and rushed to his apartment. Unfortunately for the young boy, a small group of villagers decided that they would find the village scrapegoat and vent out their hatred on the poor boy. Soon, Naruto found himself cornered and curled up to hide his pained face. He tried not to cry out but to his tormenters' glee, he did.
Pain racked his body. Blow after blow. Even when he tried to block the jeers, they passed his guard.
"Demon!"
"You monster!"
"You killed them all, muderer!"
"You should have died when you were born!"
"Killer!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
Naruto felt the blows stop and opened his eyes weakly. He blinked furiously as he tried to see through his blood and sweat and saw a brunette wearing a chuuin vest, a scar across his face.
"Iruka...sensei..." his whisper was raspy and his eye closed as he welcomed unconciousness to flee from the gnawing pain; physically and mentally. Faintly, he could hear the cries of the man he considered an older brother fading to bliss silence.
"Naruto! NARUTO! NARUTO!"
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Naruto was expecting a silent darkness to envelope him, protecting him from the pain temporarily. He certainly did not expect to find himself in a dark corridor, ankle deep in musky water and pipes running along the walls. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that main pipes had a faint blue glow while the pipes wound around them had a reddish hue to it. Shrugging it off, he wandered deeper and deeper into the abyss, pondering over what he would find.
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"Hokage-sama!"
An old man peeked over his piles of paperwork on his desk, irritated but soon rushed over to the young man who had barged in, a bloody bundle in his arms. He could barely see the blond hair since it was caked with blood.
"Hurry Iruka! We must go to the hospital! Fill me in on the way!"
Iruka obeyed and the more the old man listened, the angrier he became.
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Naruto finally stopped walking, finding himself before a huge gate. He squinted, trying to see through the darkness and promptly fell on his butt in shock when large golden eyes snapped open to gaze into the boy's blue.
"W-w-who the hell are you? Why am I here!"
He watched the eyes flicker through different sets of emotions before settling with sadness. To anyone else, they would have said those eyes were of anger and hatred but Naruto saw through it since it was a mask just like his own but more like Sasuke's who was in his class.
Brat.
The word wasn't sharpened with malice, which shocked Naruto to no end, but was said with kindness. This was the third who spoke to him in this way, oji-san and Iruka-sensei being the first two.
I am who is called Kyuubi no Kitsune.
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What will happen now? Find out next time!
So? D'you like it?
Please review and tell me what you think!
By the way, constructive critism and flamers are two different things.
Thank you.
I'm really sorry but I haven't started the sixth chapter on my other story since I downloaded the document on my file through my other comp (laptop right now) and my laptop doesn't have word perfect. So, this will take a while since the comp with word perfect is busted.